VVAA. Conservation Education. GCI. 2003

8/3/2019 VVAA. Conservation Education. GCI. 2003

1/32

Conservat ion

TheGettyConservationInstituteNewsletter

Volume18,N

umber3

2003


2/32

The GettyConservationInstituteNewsletter

Volume 18, Number 3 2003

Front cover:Thomas Roby, a senior project specialistwith GCI Field Projects, demonstrating the techniquefor injecting lime-based grout. The instruction waspart of a 2003 training campaign in Tunisia for tech-nicians responsible for the maintenance of in-situarchaeological mosaicsa program in partnershipwith Tunisias Institut National du Patrimoine. Photo:Elsa Bourguignon.

The J. Paul Getty Trust

Barry Munitz President and Chief Executive Officer

The Getty Conservation Institute

Timothy P. Whalen Director

Jeanne Marie Teutonico Associate Director, Field Projects and Conservation Science

Kathleen Gaines Assistant Director, Administration

Giacomo Chiari Chief Scientist

Luke Swetland Head of Information Resources

Kristin Kelly Head of Public Programs & Communications

Franois LeBlanc Head of Field Projects

Conservation, The Getty Conservation Institute Newsletter

Jeffrey Levin Editor

Angela Escobar Assistant Editor

Joe Molloy Graphic Designer

Color West Lithography Inc. Lithography

The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) works internationally to

advance conservation and to enhance and encourage the preservation

and understanding of the visual arts in all of their dimensions

objects, collections, architecture, and sites. The Institute serves the

conservation community through scientific research; education and

training; field projects; and the dissemination of the results of both

its work and the work of others in the field. In all its endeavors, the

Institute is committed to addressing unanswered questions and to

promoting the highest possible standards of conservation practice.

The GCI is a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, an international

cultural and philanthropic organization devoted to the visual arts and

the humanities that includes an art museum as well as programs for

education, scholarship, and conservation.

Conservation, The Getty Conservation Institute Newsletter,

is distributed free of charge three times per year, to professionals

in conservation and related fields and to members of the public

concerned about conservation. Back issues of the newsletter,

as well as additional information regarding the activities of the GCI,

can be found in the Conservation section of the Gettys Web site.

www.getty.edu

The Getty Conservation Institute

1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 700

Los Angeles, CA 90049-1684 USATel 310 440 7325

Fax 310 440 7702

2003 J. Paul Getty Trust


3/32

o

nt

ent

sFeature 4 A Free, Meandering Brook Thoughts on Conservation Education

By Kathleen Dardes

Heritage conservation is experiencing a variety of new pressuresgreater stakeholder

involvement, changing expectations for heritage use, disparate and conflicting values,

diminishing or changing resources, and new materials and media to conserve, to name just

a few. In addition, ensuring that heritage is accessible and valued by the public is critical to

conservations viability. How will the evolving state of conservation be reflected in the way

that professionals are educated? Will the learning models of the past and present equipstudents with the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes they will need for the way conser-

vation will be practiced in , , and years?

21 A Partnership in Education The UCLA/Getty Masters Program

By David Scott and Kathleen Dardes

The conservation of archaeological and ethnographic material is an important part of our

efforts to preserve the cultural remains of the past and to ensure that future generations can

know and learn about the past directly from surviving artifacts. The Getty Conservation

Institute and the University of California, Los Angeles, are currently developing a gradu-ate-level program in archaeological and ethnographic conservation designed to complement

existing programs and to expand educational opportunities. The aim of the program will be

to provide students with a solid educational base and practical training.

GCI News 24 Projects, Events, and Publications

Updates on Getty Conservation Institute projects, events, publications, and staff.

News in 17 Education in the Conservation of Immovable Heritage An Approach

Conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa

By Lazare Eloundou Assomo and Joseph King

Until recently, African approaches to conservation education were based on Western

concepts in which the materials, style, and monumental character of heritage formed the

basis for conservation. But African heritage concepts embrace spiritual, social, and religious

meanings, myths, and relationships with ancestors and the environment. Some in Africa are

now developing conservation approaches related to intangible heritage and cultural land-

scapes, and they are incorporating these approaches into training initiatives aimed at increas-

ing national capacities for management and conservation of immovable cultural heritage.

Dialogue 10 A Lifetime of Learning A Discussion about Conservation Education

Three conservators who now direct academic programsMay Cassar, Michele Marincola,

and Frank Materotalk with the s Kathleen Dardes and Jeffrey Levin about where

conservation education ought to be heading in a time of expanding information, diminished

resources, and needed public involvement.


4/32

4 Conservation, The GCI Newsletter lVolume 18 , Number 3 2003 lFeature

A Free ,Meandering

Brook

By Kathleen Dardes

A wise system of education

will at last teach us

how little man yet knows,

how much he has still to learn.

Sir John Lubbock

By its very nature, education is forward looking and anticipatory

and herein, perhaps, is one of the greatest challenges for those who

teach. Brian Fagan articulated the dilemma for archaeology in a

recent article for Conservation (see vol. , no. ). Fagan noted that

although an increasing number of archaeologists in the United

States pursue a form of archaeology commonly known as cultural

resource management, their education is still rooted in a time when

archaeology was a purely academic discipline and archaeologists

were concerned largely with survey, excavation, laboratory work,

and peer-reviewed publication. Conservation, although a compo-

nent of cultural resource management, still does not figure in the

education of most archaeologists. This disconnect between the

present and future realities of professional practice and an acade-mic education that stems from the working contexts and experi-

ences of the past has serious implications for both archaeology

and conservation.

It may be worth considering whether the example of archae-

ology is emblematic of the situation in other areas of heritage

conservation, particularly since the field has been affected by new

external pressures in recent years. In all likelihood, many of

these pressures will introduce new dynamics in relationships and

new changes in how we think about and practice conservation.

Thoughtson Conservat ion

Educat ion

O

What does education often do?

It makes a straight-cut ditch

of a free,

meandering brook.

Henry David Thoreau

O , there have been countless definitions, ideas,

and opinions about education, its practice, and its mispractice.

Philosophers, essayists, dramatists, assorted social commentators,

and especially educators themselves have offered their wide-

ranging and surprisingly mixed views on the subject of education

and its perceived value. Throughout history, learning has been

respected as the foundation for all manner of artistic, scientific,

technological, and humanistic advancement, bringing benefit

to individuals as well as to society. As the old Chinese proverb

sums up: Learning is a treasure, which accompanies its owner

everywhere.

However, educationthe process by which we acquire learn-

inghas not always been assessed with such a kindly and uncriticaleye. Education can take many guises, the formal and the informal.

In its formal state, it can be daunting and even self-defeating, as

Thoreaus remark suggests. However, Thoreau also believed

strongly in the benefits of learning and understanding as essential

human activities. It was the particular mode of learningthe

educational process itselfthat could ultimately serve or deter the

attainment of understanding. At its best, education provides the

compass for a free, meandering, and lifelong journey of discovery.


5/32

Conservation, The GCI Newsletter lVolume 18 , Number 3 2003 lFeature 5

We are already witnessing greater stakeholder access and involve-

ment in decision making, changing expectations for use of heritage,

recognition of a range of disparate and sometimes conflicting val-

ues, diminishing or changing resources, increased interdisciplinary

collaboration, and the need to deal with the conservation of new

materials and mediato name just a few. As a consequence, there

has been a great deal of introspection and discussion among con-

servation professionals as to the new roles and opportunities thatmay await the field. The result is a growing acknowledgment of the

imperative of conservations social dimension. Ensuring that her-

itage is accessible, understood, and valued by the public, as well as

by other professional colleagues, is increasingly critical to not only

the practice but also the viability of conservation. As such, it is also

increasingly critical to the teaching and learning of conservation.

How will the evolving state of conservation thought and

practice be reflected in the way that conservation professionals are

educated and trained? Will the learning models of the past and

present be able to equip students with the knowledge, skills, values,and attitudes they will need for the way conservation will be prac-

ticed in , , and years? It is, of course, impossible to know for

certain what students will actually face in their professional lives.

In fact, it may not even matter. Education must prepare people to

function in an unknowable future. Educationand especially

education for the professionsequips people for lifelong learning

and discovery. The ever-expanding pool of knowledge within every

field requires professionals to concentrate on learning how to form

the right questions rather than how to simply absorb information,

and to work as part of an extended team of specialists.

The most important part of teaching

is to teach what it is to know.

Simone Weil

Because it serves the future, education can be said to be at least

theoretically progressive and forward looking in its purpose. Yet,

academia can be notoriously conservative and resistant to change.

Even so, some remarkable learning revolutions have occurred

within the heart of academia, driven by compelling needs recog-

nized within the realm of professional practice. The best exampleof this can be found in medical education, which over the course

of the past two decades has witnessed far-reaching reforms.

For much of the th century, most medical schools followed

an educational model drafted in . But by the late s it had

become clear that this basic model did not allow teaching and learn-

ing to keep pace with the rapid and dramatic changes occurring

within health care, including the expansion of medical knowledge

and the blurring between the boundaries of the specific medical

sciences. No student or practicing doctor could reasonably be

expected to absorb the amount of information that makes up the

modern body of knowledge in medicine, even within one specialty.

In addition to developing the usual diagnostic, problem-solving,

and other technical skills, the modern doctor must be equipped for

the social dimension of medicineunderstanding and interacting

with patientswhich is fundamental to a contemporary and holis-

tic approach to medicine.

Educators realized that future medical practice would make

new and different demands upon doctors and that their curriculumneeded to reflect this expectation. The reform of the medical

curriculum, already under way by the early s, has led to new

teaching and learning goals and methodologies. These innova-

tionswhich include problem-based learning and interdisciplinary

cooperative learninglink pedagogy to the new circumstances and

conditions of professional practice. Other fieldssuch as law, busi-

ness, and public administration, to name a fewhave also sought

to link more closely the educational experience to the realities of

professional life. Active, student-centered learning is becoming

increasingly important in higher education because it allows stu-dents to develop the particular habits of thinking and behavior that

characterize the profession for which they are preparing. Learning,

especially for the professions, should be an active and constructive

process that contextualizes technical issues and problems.

Conservation education faces many of the same challenges

that characterize education in other professions. The pedagogical

solutions to these problems also have some interest and relevance

to teaching and learning conservation. For this reason, the

researches examples of best practices within the educational

mainstream that can be adapted to the aims of our projects

Graduate students in architectural conservationlearning about the design and formulation of mortarcomposite repairs at the Capilla del Santo Cristode la Salud in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as part of anadvanced course in masonry conservation andinterpretation. The students are from the GraduateProgram in Historic Preservation at the Universityof Pennsylvania and the New School of Architectureat Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico. Photo:The Architectural Conservation Research Labora-tory, University of Pennsylvania, School of Design.


6/32


and to conservation education generally. For example, problem-

based learning is one of the educational strategies that we have

employed within some of our courses, adapting it to the particular

audience, learning aims, and situation with which we are working.Its particular advantage as a pedagogy for conservation is the way in

which it can integrate and contextualize different aspects of profes-

sional lifeblending the technical, social, ethical, and other dimen-

sions of real-life practice.

A range of factors influences the teaching approach that we

may take within a project. Since the works internationally,

educational projects can address a range of different audiences and

learning needs. The educational strategy that we may ultimately

develop takes into account context, audience, and learning tradi-

tions, as well as the need for specific information and skills.

The task of the modern educator

is not to cut down jungles,

but to irrigate deserts.

C. S. Lewis

Conservation is still fairly young as a profession, and the need for

suitable education and training opportunities remains great at all

levels of professional practice. Unfortunately, in many areas of the

world, there are few or no opportunities for training, even at the

most basic level. Over the years, organizations like the International

Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of

Cultural Property () and the have sought to address this

situation through strategic and long-term projects that answerimmediate training needs while laying the groundwork for the

development of regionally based educational initiatives.

An example is Project Terra, a collaborative project of the

, , and the International Centre for Earth Construc-

tionSchool of Architecture of Grenoble (erre). Terra

encompasses both immediate and long-term strategies for educat-

ing professionals in the conservation and management of earthen

architecture (including buildings, historic urban centers, and

archaeological sites). An important project objective is to establish

the conservation and management of earthen heritage as an area ofstudy within university structures, recognizing that such academic

anchors can substantially enhance both education and scholar-

ship in this area. In the meantime, there is still an immediate need

for training professionals to address conservation and management

of the earthen architectural heritage. Terra has dealt with this

through a series of short courses, including the Pan-American

Course on the Conservation and Management of Earthen

Architectural and Archaeological Heritage (known as ),

delivered in and in Trujillo, Peru.


7/32


Over a decade, the Terra partners have tested, applied, and

adapted a range of new and conventional approaches to teaching

earthen architecture conservation through their individual and

joint educational initiatives. These approaches were linked to an

understanding of the working profile of the professionals responsi-

ble for heritage and to their need to participate in a process that

integrates conservation, access, education, and security with the

values of a range of stakeholders. The Terra partners havedeveloped curricula, didactic materials, and methods that reflect

the blending of social, cultural, and technical aspects of earthen

architectural heritage. The project has integrated problem-based

learning within a training framework as a means of presenting

the multidimensional aspects of earthen architecture conservation

and management. (For more on Terra, see: www.getty.edu/

conservation/activities/terra/ .)

A Socrates in every classroom.

A. Whitney Griswold, President, Yale University,on his standard for Yale faculty (1951)

Collaborations are important to the s strategy of extending and

strengthening the teaching of conservation within the academic

environment. The Gettys partnership with the University of

California, Los Angeles (), in the development of a new pro-

gram in archaeological and ethnographic conservation includes an

opportunity for the s education section to work with the course

director to develop the pedagogical foundation for the program

(see p. ). Over the course of the next year, this collaboration will

define the professional profile and expected competencies of

graduates, the programs teaching and learning aims and objectives,

the core curriculum, teaching strategies, evaluation mechanisms,

and other defining characteristics of the program. The result will

be a curriculum document that will serve as a blueprint for further

course development.

In the past year, the also partnered with the Centre for

Sustainable Heritage of University College London (), in

developmental work for its new midcareer graduate course

(formally titled Master of Science in the Built Environment:

Sustainable Heritage), which will begin in October . The

collaboration addressed the curriculum and teaching objectives,

which include the integration of problem-based learning to foster

interdisciplinarity and the eventual use of Web-based learning to

extend the course to students over a wider geographic area.

The s partnership with the Centre for Sustainable

Heritage has included the joint offering of the short course Historic

Buildings, Collections, and Sites: Sustainable Strategies for Con-

servation, Management, and Use, designed for senior-level heritage

professionals. This course allowed us to investigate the potential of

the Internet in extending the boundaries of traditional classroom-

The Pan-American Course on the Conservation andManagement of Earthen Architectural and Archaeo-logical Heritage (known as PAT), held in the 1990s inPeru. Part of Project Terraa collaborative projectof the GCI, ICCROM, and CRATerreEAGthe PATcourse provided training for professionals in theconservation and management of the earthenarchitectural heritage. The course included curric-ula, didactic materials, and methods that blendedthe social, cultural, and technical aspects ofearthen architecture. Photos:Erica Avrami.

The GCI-UCL Centre for Sustainable Heritage shortcourse for senior-level heritage professionals on

sustainable strategies for conservation, manage-ment, and use of historic buildings, collections , andsites. The 2003 course included a firs t phase, whereparticipants, working at their own institutions,completed a program of preparatory exercises,readings, and other work via a course Web s ite.This work provided a foundation for the secondphase, which took the form of a workshop at UCL.Photos:Nigel Blades, Sophia Mouzouropoulos,courtesy the UCL Centre for Sustainable Heritage.


8/32


based learning. The course was offered in two phases. During the

first phase, participants, working at their own institutions, com-

pleted a program of preparatory exercises, readings, and other

work as a foundation for the second phase, which took the form of a

workshop at . Providing background readings and assignments,

via a course Web site during the preliminary phase, made way for

more active learning activitiessuch as discussions, exercises, and

collaborative group workduring the second phase. Collaborationin learning was a major objective of the course and was key to

promoting interdisciplinary thinking and problem solving among

the participants.

Collaboration was also essential in the actual teaching of this

course, as it has been for other projects, including Project Terra.

In a course like Historic Buildings, Collections, and Sites, inter-

disciplinary teams of teachers bring different and sometimes

competing perspectives to the classroom, challenging students to

consider the various ramifications of situations in which there may

be no single right answer. Collaborative teaching also gives teachersan opportunity to model cooperative behavior and problem solving

in the classroom. The teamwork among teachers, which begins in

the planning process, can also greatly aid the integration of ideas,

information, and teaching approaches.

I have never let my schooling interfere

with my education.

Mark Twain

In the s field projects, training may occur within the framework

of a multifaceted project that combines research and the testing ofnew conservation methodologies. Educational strategies employed

within field projects are tailored to specific issues and conditions

encountered within the region or countries in which we are working

and may be targeted to a range of different professionals with

responsibility for the conservation and management of heritage.

The collaborates closely with institutional partners to develop

the right aims and strategies for the situation encountered, taking

into account learning styles, traditions, and resources.

While field projects usually offer ideal opportunities for

educational initiatives, they can also offer unique challenges. Insome situations, a short course or workshop may not always provide

the level or depth of training needed and so is combined with a

long-term program of mentored practice that allows skills and

confidence to be developed slowly and systematically. During the

practice period, trainees have intermittent access to a teacher who

can provide guidance and evaluation. An example of this is a

project that is part of a larger effort to conserve in-situ archaeo-

logical mosaics in the Mediterranean region. Begun two years ago,

the projecta partnership with Tunisias Institut National du

Patrimoine (see p. , and Conservation, vol. , no. )trains

technicians responsible for the maintenance of in-situ archaeo-

logical mosaics in Tunisia. Training for the first group of techni-

cians was carried out over an -month period through four succes-

sive campaigns, with intervening periods of assigned practical work

arranged by instructors. The practical work was evaluated during

successive campaigns, at which time remedial or additional teach-

ing, if necessary, could take place.

An upcoming phase of this project will involve the develop-ment of a site management workshop for personnel who oversee

archaeological sites in Tunisia. This will facilitate the development

of a supporting structure within Tunisia that will help ensure the

sustainability of the technicians maintenance efforts over time.

GCI training of technicians responsible for the

maintenance of in-situ archaeological mosaics inTunisia. The program, done in partnership withTunisias Institut National du Patrimoine, combinesa series of training courses with a long-term pro-gram of mentored practice that allows skills andconfidence to be developed slowly and systemati-cally. During the practice period, trainees haveintermittent access to a teacher who can provideguidance and evaluation. Photos:Elsa Bourguignon,Richard Ross.


9/32


There is not an ounce of doubt in my mind

that the way we learn throughout our lives

is and will continue to be

profoundly influenced by the use

of digital media, the Internet,

the World Wide Web, and devices

and systems yet to be developed.

Charles M. Vest

President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Disturbing the Educational Universe: Universities in the Digital Age

In recent years it has become clear to most educators that digital

technologyand, in particular, the Internetnow makes

possible a variety of new opportunities for teaching and learning.

Experimentation has ranged from placing courses and teaching

materials online to the creation of teaching and learning communi-

ties and coops, and the development of online interactive learning

environments.

One of the more promising aspects of the Web is the waythat it can also assist in the formation of Internet communities

a concept that, at first glance, may seem antithetical to the anony-

mous nature of Web-based interactions. But, in fact, the Web is

now appreciated for the way in which it facilitates informal

communication and information exchange among individuals.

The has experimented with the Web as a virtual work space for

teacher collaboration in a few projects including in the course

Historic Buildings, Collections, and Sites and in Project Terra.

In addition to providing a common area for posting materials and

other project information, it supports a greater degree of day-to-

day cooperative work among partners.

The has also been investigating other ways that electronictechnology can extend the impact of our educational work. We are

in the process of launching an online teaching resource for conser-

vation educators on the s Web site. This resource will feature

teaching materials created by the , as well as information about

the courses and other projects for which they were created. The

teaching materials will be available to conservation teachers who

can download the material for classroom use.

How do we know what really works when it comes to teaching

and learning in the online environment? The digital world brings

many benefits but has also created new problems, many of whichare specific to the online environment. We are still becoming

acquainted with the promises of the digital age, which remains

in its pioneering phase. Because we are in a period of experimenta-

tion, educators need to recognize that the best approaches will

emerge only over time. The process of discovering what works and

what doesnt will influence not only how educational technology

will evolve but also how we integrate it into teaching and learning

in the future. As these technologies are explored and as the Internet

becomes a reality for an ever-growing segment of the worlds

population, new models for teaching and learning will be avail-ableas will generally greater access to educational opportunities.

Education is what survives

when what has been learned

has been forgotten.

B. F. Skinner

Education can have both a responsive and a catalytic function

within the field of conservation at large. It responds toand in

some instances serves as laboratory fornew or changing require-

ments within professional practice. Given the opportunities thattechnology is bringing into all of education, it is probably fair to

say that we are at the start of what is likely to be a period of rapid

transformation and rejuvenation. Despite the challenges that the

changing landscape of education presents, with those changes

comes a growing sense of connection to a wider community of

educators. In the digital age, Thoreaus free, meandering brook has

many new channels in which to flow.

Kathleen Dardes is a senior project specialist with the GCIs Education

section.


10/32

Conservation asked three conservators who now

direct academic programs to talk about where conser-

vation education ought to be heading in a time of

expanding information, diminished resources, and

needed public involvement.

May Cassaris director of the Centre for Sustainable

Heritage at University College London, where she is

responsible for research and teaching on the sustain-

able use of historic buildings, collections, and sites.

Formerly environmental adviser at Resource: The

Council for Museums, Archives, and Libraries and the

Museums & Galleries Commission, she is the author

and editor of seven books relating to preventive conser-

vation, includingEnvironmental Management

Guidelines for Museums and Galleries. She is a

member of the directory board of ICOM-CC, a fellow

of the International Institute for Conservation, and

a UKIC-accredited conservator.

Michele Marincola is Sherman Fairchild Chairman

and professor of conservation at the Conservation

Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York

University (NYU). She is also a conservator for the

Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum

of Art in New York. An expert in the conservation and

technical art history of medieval sculpture, she has

written extensively on medieval master sculptor

Tilman Riemenschneider. During the mid-s,she served as cochair for the objects specialty group

of the American Institute for Conservation.

Frank G. Matero is associate professor of architecture

and chair of the Graduate Program in Historic

Preservation at the Graduate School of Fine Arts,

University of Pennsylvania. He is also director of the

Architectural Conservation Laboratory and research

associate of the University Museum of Archaeology

and Anthropology. In addition, he has been a lecturer

at the International Centre for the Study of the

Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property

(ICCROM) in Rome, and he currently serves as

regional editor forConservation and Management

of Archaeological Sites and theJournal of Archi-

tectural Conservation.

They spoke with Kathleen Dardes, a senior project

specialist in the GCIs Education section, and Jeffrey

Levin, editor ofConservation, The GCI Newsletter.

Kathleen Dardes: I think its useful to begin by looking at the state

of the broaderfield. In the past few years, there have been real or

threatened closures of conservation facilities, as well as job losses

within some institutions. As a result, theres been debate within

the profession over how our nonconservation colleagues, and even

society itself, perceive and value us. Is the situation a passing

anomaly or is it symptomatic of something fundamentally wrong

in our relationship to the broader world?

May Cassar: We ought to view this change in a wider context. Whatshappening in conservation is no different than whats happening in

other public-sector areas where theres a move away from the direct

delivery of services, and more is being contracted to be done by the

private sector.

Michele Marincola: I would be interested in hard data on the loss of

jobs in the public sector and whether short-term positions, such as

museum fellowships, have replaced them. I think that this is a prob-

lem of the economic times. I remember the proliferation of jobs in

conservation in the 1980s, when there was more money for cultural

programs, and I expect that we might see that time again. To planfor the short term by shutting down programs or by taking far

fewer students might be very shortsighted. There might be other

ways to approach cyclical job loss, such as teaching better interdis-

ciplinary skills or resourcefulness in the face of adversity.

Frank Matero: We also have to distinguish between conservation

in the public and private sectors. It depends on the place. Europe

has a much stronger tradition of conservation in the public sector

than the United States, where the private sector has always been

10 Conservation, The GCI Newsletter lVolume 18 , Number 3 2003 lDialogue

A Lifetimeof Learning

A DiscussionaboutConservationEducation


11/32

conservators for a different worldthe cut and thrust of negotia-

tion, being hard nosed and businesslike. That worries me. We have

to look at everything, including nonconservation subjects in the

curriculum, and see what is needed.

Matero: This is an interesting time for higher education every-

wheremany established academic and professional disciplines are

undergoing intellectual reflection in terms of principles and prac-

tices. I dont think anyone has been spared this. Weve been slow to

participate in the rapidly expanding discourse on these larger issuesof heritage. We havent been very good about coming to the table

and presenting our case as relevant. Weve avoided a critical exami-

nation of our own historical-based and culturally based narratives.

But the amount of critiquing that is going on by nonconservators

about conservation and heritage suggests that its time to reenter

the dialogue. Weve got to contribute to the discourse using the very

strengths that our transdisciplinary training provides. Conserva-

tion has always been about theoretical and practical matters and

their relationship to the larger social and global issues. We dont do

a very good job communicating that.On the subject of current education, its not unlike many

fields. For example, medical education is reeling under the amount

of information being generated that students need to know. We

have to be careful about the pressure to know less and less about

more and more. Thats the opposite of the traditional thinking

about professionalization. Graduate education is about knowing

what questions to ask. Students have their lifetime to get the

answers. Id hate to see us embrace changes because of temporary

fluctuations in the economy.

at least in the built environment realma stronger area of

opportunity.

Cassar: The United Kingdom began to be hit particularly hard

about 10 years ago, when a lot of conservation jobs within museums

and galleries started to disappear, and the private sector began to

deliver the services that previously were done by conservators in

the public sector. That experience came as a great cultural shock,

one to which we havent quite adjusted.

Jeffrey Levin:Assuming that there is some shift toward private

conservators taking placeeither in the short term or the long

termwhat effect would that have, if any, on the way we educate

conservators?

Marincola: I think that it would have little effect on training pro-

grams. It doesnt change the fundamental information that needs

to be imparted in a three- to four-year program. I have a lot of con-

cern about adding too much to programs. Instead, we need to see if

what were doing is the right thing, rather than infinitely expanding

the curriculum.Cassar: Michele, I wonder whether I might ever so politely dis-

agree? It isnt just a question of curriculum stretch. Yes, we have to

be careful about constantly adding to a curriculum and expecting it

to be forever elastic, but we may have to make some difficult

choices, particularly in graduate programs where we have to be

selective about the information that our students actually need. In

the United Kingdom, public institutions such as museums and gal-

leries are still perceived as the natural employers of conservators.

I dont think that education programs are necessarily preparing

Conservation, The GCI Newsletter lVolume 18 , Number 3 2003 lDialogue 11

We may have to make

some difficult choices,

particularly in graduate programs

where we have to be selective

about the information

that our students actually need.

May Cassar

Photo:SarahLee

forUniversityCollegeLondon.


12/32


Dardes: Frank, do you think conservation education needs a

critical assessment? Does it need reform, or is it basically on the

right path?

Matero: We have to continually find new ways to make what we do

relevant. I was intrigued by Mays title of being the director of the

Centre for Sustainable Heritage. Sustainability is one of those

concepts to take a broader view of how conservation fits into the

big picture. The word has suffered, unfortunately, from overuse

and from misuse, but its still a useful concept. I think if you polled

most conservators working in the built or immovable area, many

of them would have very traditional and somewhat rigid notions

about who they are and what they do. They underestimate their

effect on the public in terms of why we do what we do and the

effects it has on society.

Marincola: The burden cannot rest with the graduate programs to

complete a conservator. Were in the business of teaching students

the skills to enable them to continue learning. How to look at a workof art to judge its condition. How to ask the right questions. How to

think about the objects material nature, its authorship, its authen-

ticity, its historical record, and its aesthetic nature. And to have a

basic understanding of scientific methodologies. We dont train

conservation scientists at the Conservation Center of the Institute

of Fine Arts, but it is important that our graduates have a basic

familiarity with analytical methodologies, their applications, and,

most important, their limitations. There is internal pressure to

teach more treatment-based courses. But to think that we can

impart in three to four years the skills necessary to brilliantlyinpaint, line a painting, varnish correctly under different circum-

stances, remove polychromiesthats asking too much of a pro-

gram. We all spend a lifetime in acquiring these skills. Were really

here to set up critical thinkingto teach students how to ask the

right questions and where to go to get answers to them.

Cassar: What our program intends to do is bring into the classroom

interdisciplinary professions to discuss issues related to conserva-

tion decision making, in terms of what should or could be done

to objects or buildings or sites. To break out of the niche into which

conservators often seem to retreat. I see conservation as partof a growing public attitude that society needs to be sustainable.

I agree that the wordsustainable has been overused. Its up to us to

recapture the essence of that word in terms of conservation

because, after all, it all started with concern over the conservation

of the planet. The environment isnt only the environment inside

our buildingsits the environment outside them. Otherwise, how

do we overcome the environmental double standards of wanting to

conserve objects in very controlled environments without being

concerned over the cost to the environment outside? I cant call

myself a conservator without taking this holistic view. We need to

be aware of societys expectation of conservation and to consider

why, when it thinks about conservation, it thinks first about the

natural environment. Why doesnt society think about material

culture, which is the physical evidence of our identity?

Dardes: Do you think that newly minted conservators coming out

of programs understand that they actually serve society rather

than objects? Do we make that fundamental connection as clear

as we need to?

Cassar: I think many do not understand that conservation is

primarily about people.

Matero: I liken conservation training and the practice of conserva-

tion to programs in ecology that developed out of the more tradi-

tional disciplines of the natural and physical sciences. Many of

these programs were developed not only with natural and physical

science components but, more recently, with cultural components.

You cannot take people out of ecology, and culture is part of people.

To get back to education, we should never give up the ideathat one of the strengths of the field, despite the pressures to

specialize more, is the fact that conservation is firmly built on the

hybridization of education in the humanities and the sciences.

This gives us breadth of vision, lets us see the problem in as many

aspects as possible. Right now Im working in the American South-

west, where Ive been engaged in one of the most interesting

aspects of conservation, which training never prepared me for

making culturally relative the process of conservation. Working in

indigenous traditional communities is one aspect of the cultural

dimension in the contemporary context. Another area is the notion

Photo:MauraMcGurk,

courtesyoftheConservationCenter,

InstituteofFineArts,

NewYorkUniversity


13/32

Conservation, The GCI Newsletter lVolume 18 , Number 3 2003 lDialogue 13

of preventionlooking at ways of mitigating damage before it

happens. That has given rise to this whole interest in management.

These are contemporary issues that are changing the way education

views the necessities of the field. They also reflect the way the field

is changing.

Cassar: Frank, youve spoken about the conservator as being almost

a polymath, a generalistnot a specialist working in a very narrow

field but being able to range widely. Somebody like that should be

valued in any organization and be involved in decisions at a seniorlevel. Yet we dont see that in practice. Conservators are not always

perceived as team players, part of a collaborative decision-making

process. There is a defensiveness that we need to counter. And one

way of doing this is to have conservation students come into

contact with potential users of heritage, clients who put them on

the spot, challenging them in a safe environment so that they learn

not to come out fighting or to retreat into their shellbut can actu-

ally exchange information and be prepared to lose some battles for

the greater good. It isnt the end of the world if we dont win every

single argument.Marincola: Train for a certain level of resourcefulness . . .

Cassar: Yes. For lateral thinking. We do conservation no service

if we take each battle as being the last one were ever going to fight.

Marincola: Its the professions unfortunate reputation for stiff-

neckedness.

Cassar: Dare I say itis it the kind of people that conservation

attracts?

Marincola: Or whom we accept into programs? Are we going to the

right undergraduates within our universities to inform them about

conservation?

Cassar: There will always be a need for practitioners, the people

who actually do hands-on conservation. But there is also a desper-

ate need for tomorrows conservation leaders. Where are they going

to come from?

Dardes: So do you think we need to recruit a different type

of conservation professional?

Cassar: Maybe in recruiting students, we need to be aware not only

of what they can offer on graduating but of what they are going to

do in or years. What is their growth potential?

Marincola: How do you judge that? Were asking ourselves this ques-

tion right now. At , weve just started the process of curriculum

review, setting the goals for the next to years for the Conserva-

tion Center and also forming committees to look at the curriculum.Weve conducted surveys of our graduates and their supervisors

and have been working with that feedback on what works well and

what needs amplification or improvement in the program. Two

of the questions that we have are: What kind of core curriculum

will we teach? and Are we targeting the right people to come into

this field, or are we simply taking whomever offers themselves?

Cassar: The way that I would deal with this is to look at the

applicants not only in terms of their potential skills at dealing

with objects but also in terms of their skills at dealing with people.

Can they demonstrate that they love people as much as they loveobjects?

Matero: In working with the built environment, you cannot avoid

peoplealthough some try. In the past years that Ive been

teaching, Im seeing a much more sophisticated and a much more

aware applicantnow more than ever before. Conservation

certainly is out there in the public sphere, and applicants are

getting that information, whether its through public television or

through the press. But its not coming from us, and that is partly

the problem.Cassar: Providing conservation professionals who are studying in

our programs with the opportunity to work closely with other

disciplines might be a way not only to reassure and reinforce what

is good about conservation and our knowledge base but also to

communicate the value of conservation to others.

Matero: This is an important point, because students emulate what

they experience during their education. The programs Ive been

involved with have always been embedded in larger professional

schools, so students in architecture, planning, and landscape

Were really here

to set up critical thinking

to teach students

how to ask the right questions

and where to go

to get answers to them.

Michele Marincola


14/32

architecture cannot help but take courses withand become some-

what familiar withconservation as a subset of those professions.

Their sharing of approaches makes for better professionals.

They come out better sensitized to the issues and the possibilities.

Thats probably been the greatest success that Ive seen at Penn,

where there is much cross-disciplinary discussion and respect.

Cassar: I endorse entirely what you said. This encourages young

conservation professionals to listen to what others are saying about

conservation and cultural heritage. Increasingly, the public is more

knowledgeable and is setting the agenda. We need to listen to what

is out there and not just do the talking.

Matero: Right. One thing I want to clarify that was mentioned

earlierthe wordgeneralist. Although I talked about a broad

perspective being one of the great strengths of the field, that

perspective is nothing unless it is backed up by expertise in the

various components that make it distinct. It is a daunting task

when you actually look at the required knowledge and skills thata conservator has to have.

Marincola: Its a lifetime achievement, actually. The question for us

is, What needs to be imparted in the short amount of time that we

have them?

Matero: This goes back to the old arguments about apprenticeship

versus formal educationis the role of a formal education to lay

out the path which has been set by others before you, in ways that

are complete?

Cassar: Which is why I prefer calling it education rather thantraining. The understanding of the philosophical and wider

ethical values and significance of the heritage is so strong that it

influences the formation of the profession so muchor it ought to.

Its not just training. Were not teaching people the mechanics

offixing an object. There are ethics involved. There are serious

issues relating to authenticity and renewal, which are paralleled in

the environmental field. We have to be knowledgeable and con-

fident about the conservation field, but our role is not exclusive.

Matero: Recently Ive seen within the ranks a certain amount ofcriticism focused on this distinction between the tangible and the

intangible. Its been advanced by those who are concerned with

issues of heritage but whove had very little experience in the

realities of the materiality of places and things. As a conservator

and an educator, it never once crossed my mindand I hope not

my students minds eitherthat the tangible is divorced from the

intangible. To do so puts down conservators as plumbers. And

thats why conservation education involves art history, architectural

history, the sciences, and a certain amount of cultural anthropology.

Its about people, not things. Its about ideas and beliefs and


valuesand not about atoms and aesthetics only. I agree that there

have been moments in the field when the hegemony of science

dictated the way we were perceived and the way we get our infor-

mation and the way we communicate, because science is privileged

in contemporary society . . .

Marincola: Its perceived, incorrectly, as being objective.

Matero: Shining the spotlight on the dichotomies of intangible and

tangible is important. It illuminates the fact that conservation

developed out of recognition of both simultaneously.

Dardes: Frank, you said earlier that students emulate what they

learn. How do we construct classroom orfield experiences to form

the kinds of conservation professionals we want in thefield?

Matero: In the years Ive been teaching, Ive seen tremendous strides

in conservation education. I have not seen equal strides in the

profession, and I say that with the caveat that Im talking about the

immovable cultural heritage. I dont see the jobs there, I dont see

the upper levels recognizing the need. Values, if anything, have

been politicized, and recent events clearly indicate the power ofthings and places.

But let me turn to pedagogy. Conservation of the built envi-

ronment is a bit more inclusive at the University of Pennsylvania.

It ranges from material conservation to preservation planning to

site management to landscape conservation. Andwith a core cur-

riculum in history, theory, technology, and practice that everyone

takesstudents move in their second year to specialization in one

of the four areas Ive mentioned. Any program has to balance

knowledge with skill-based education, and of course were all

Photo:Courtesyofthe

UniversityofPennsylvania.


15/32

straining under the amount of technical know-how, as well as

general information, students need to have under their belt. This

big reevaluation of conservation curriculum has forced me to look

at my own institution in terms of what were delivering to students.

Weve fiercely upheld the notion of the core curriculum. Ive gotten

a lot of pressure from other institutions to have students specialize

within the first year, but I dont believe in that. The idea is to create

courses that recognize the need for praxis, not just by ejecting

students into internships but by actually building skillsfor exam-

ple, using the tremendous explosion of digital technologies for

recording and documentation. We also have a program in heritage

economics and visual communication skills.

Levin:Are there things that conservation education can learn

from education in general? Are there innovations in the

educationfield that can be applied to conservation education

specifically?

Cassar: We have, together with the , been trying out some tech-

niques that we are keen to utilize in the masters program were

launching in . One thing that has worked extremely well butthat is also resource intensive is team teaching. We had two teachers

from different disciplines teaching in the classroom, each offering

different takes on a specific problem. There was the confidence

between the two to disagree, to contradict, to generate a discussion,

and to come to a consensus with the students. We used case studies

dealing with complex issues, which we have written specifically for

the program, and we used them throughout the workshop to enable

students to look at the issues in depth together and to learn from

one another, as well as being guided by the teachers. The other

Conservation, The GCI Newsletter lVolume 18, Number 3 2003 lDialogue 15

aspect was the Web. We put basic information on the Web, which

students had to read before class. The classroom was the venue for

discussion and debate rather than for imparting basic information.

We were, of course, dealing with experienced professionals,

very varied in terms of their backgrounds, but they were all talking

conservation. And that was the delight. There was no question that

their perception of conservation was enhanced, and they each took

something different away with them. But, of course, we were nottraining conservatorswe were not attempting to turn architects

or scientists into conservators.

Marincola:John Sexton, the new president of , is very interested

in interdisciplinary studies, and we are interested in incorporating

more into the program. By its nature as part of the Institute of Fine

Arts, the Conservation Center offers an interdisciplinary approach

to conservation education. But we offer more than lots of art his-

tory classes for conservators. We also teach a fair number of courses

designed for both art history students and conservation students.

And those are team-taught, as May was describing, and offer a

paradigm for how art historians or curators might work with

conservators or scientists. Some courses are open to undergraduate

study with the idea of attracting interested undergraduates from

chemistry, sociology, or other fields, who are curious and want to

broaden their knowledge. We dont expect that theyre going to

become conservators, but it does raise their consciousness.

Cassar: Exactly. It makes them more receptive to the whole ethos

of conservation.

Marincola: The other two programs similar to oursthe artconservation program at Buffalo State run by Chris Tahk, and the

University of DelawareWinterthur program that Debbie Hess

Norris directsare sharing resources. Were often able to share the

expertise of, say, a photograph conservator and a photo historian

and teach a weeklong course that all three programs participate in.

I would love to do more sharing with the programs that are within

reach of one another.

Cassar: Im particularly interested in looking at ways in which our

program might be able to provide colleagues from developing coun-tries with some time in London studyingbut also to do some of

the course back at home. Developing countries, very often, have

limited number of staff. Releasing somebody for even a year to

study abroad overloads those left behind. It also creates a sense of

displacement for those who have gone abroad, and they often have

difficulty reintegrating once they return. So Im looking at ways to

enable people from developing countries to take advantage of our

coursebut not offering it as a full distance learning, because the

value of the face-to-face is something that I dont want to lose.

Conservation education

involves art his tory,

architectural history,

the sciences,

and a certain amount

of cultural anthropology. . . .

Its about ideas and beliefs

and values . . .

Frank Matero


16/32


Marincola: For years, has provided the opportunity for students

from other countries to study for a year as special students. Theyre

not obligated to commit to three years of art history, language, con-

servation, and conservation history, but they can focus immediately

on an area that interests themplus, take courses throughout the

university. The drawback has been that some students have opted to

stay in the United States, so you can argue that theres no benefit

for their country.

Matero: Id like to address this in a slightly different way. As

educators, we need to get into the discussion thats taking place on

the relevance of international training programs. Theres a growing

abandonment of these programs, which have been considered a

lingering form of colonialism. But conservation, as a methodologi-

cal approach, is about as close to universal tenets as we can get.

Ive heard again and againand Ive experienced it with the many

international research fellows, who dont have access to higher edu-

cation for two or three years but can come for six monthsthat one

of the most life affirming experiences theyve had is to sit in a room

where no one has a common language but all share aspects of

universality related to conservation and heritage. Theres been a

growing detraction of conservation as a First World, Western

import to developing countries. Those of us who feel strongly need

to counteract that. Conservation is one of those areasheritage is

one of those areasthat is universal, but it has to be contextual-

ized, culturally and geographically. There is a real dearth right now

of opportunities to share in the knowledge and the dialogue of con-

servation that we can provide. I think the conservation field is in a

bad way right now with respect to international programs.

Cassar: Can I give you one argument that we might be able to use?

A key principle of sustainability is local distinctivenesswhich

isnt only about wildlife or topography or local building styles.

Its distinctiveness in relation to education, personal skills, local

product, values, and knowledge. What we teach doesnt replace

these things for those who take our programs. I think were sensi-

tive enough to realize that what we ought to be doing is enhancing

the local knowledge that these students bring with them.

Matero: But the notion of doing just that is perceived as part of thisimportation of applied approaches that has been criticized. There

are people like you and like myself who are, in fact, practicing this

form of sustainable conservation. But at the moment, there is the

louder voice insisting on the irrelevance of the international

approach in training and favoring only regional trainingwhich

I agree is important, but not at the expense of the opportunity for

cross-cultural exchanges.

Cassar: We need both.

Marincola: And it goes in both directions. Students from the United

States might be interested to study abroad.

Cassar: If you go back to ancient philosophical texts in any

culturebe it Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism

you can see how embedded conservation is in the way of life of

communities.

Matero: Right, but the trouble is that the embrace of modernism hasset itself apart from traditionand apart from conservation. New

is good, old is bad. That is what conservation has to fightthe false

dichotomies of modern versus tradition and new versus old. These

are still operating. So even when individuals come to study conser-

vation or to explore further conservation from within their own

context, the support systems that they return to can be rather

limited. And thats another reason to argue for an investment in

regional training and educationits reinforcement. We have to

recognize that as well.

Cassar: If I could say one last thing in this conversation, its that we

also need to be in listening mode. We need to be aware that we

occupy very privileged positions. We get to handle wonderful

things, and we almost take that as a right, when actually we have to

make what we do accessible to a much wider public. We need to

explain what we do, and we need to put people first.

Matero: If I could take the opposite viewnot from the perspective

of the relationship between the conservator and the heritage but

between the conservator and the public. Conservation has had a

small voice in the United States. While federal policies have recog-nized the need for conservation, theres been very limited follow-up

in employment and in funding, particularly in training and

research. Weve made great strides in education, but weve

neglected to convince the public and the politicians of the

importance of the work. We need only to compare our resources

and programs with those of European countries to see the discrep-

ancy. We really need to communicate what we hold to be so critical

and important to contemporary society.

Marincola: I think advocacy is key. To educate our students to do

that effectively is going to be increasingly importantas is helpingthem to grasp the importance of working within a group. Innova-

tion is not done by a genius alone in a room. We need to help our

students understand that innovation and problem solving within

our field are best done with a group of people from various back-

grounds. Our students need to learn how to talk with one another

and work with one another betterand to continue the classroom

on the outside.


17/32

Educationin the Conservationof Immovable HeritageAn Approachin Sub-Saharan AfricaBy Lazare Eloundou Assomo and Joseph King

Conservation, The GCI Newsletter lVolume 18 , Number 3 2003 lNews in Conservation 17

aspects of the heritage were favored over less tangible, but perhaps

more important, associations. In short, significant heritage in Africa

has been deteriorating and even disappearing because appropriate

measures have not been developed to take into account the Africanconcept of heritage.

A Global Strategy in Africa

To confront this problem, some in Africa are now trying to take a

lead in developing concepts related to intangible heritage, cultural

landscapes, and other new ways of looking at both the identification

and management of heritage. Two processes launched by the World

Heritage Committee of in the early s have supported

this effort.The first is the Global Strategy for a Balanced and

Representative World Heritage List. This initiative, begun in ,

grew from the realization that the World Heritage List, up to that

time, had been based on a monumental concept of heritage.

The Global Strategy has tried to broaden definitions of the heritage

with the goal of creating a World Heritage List that better repre-

sents all cultures.

With regard to Africa, the World Heritage Centre

conducted several meetings from to , aimed at changing

A to conservation education must first

look at the specific concept of heritage in the region or country con-

cerned. Until fairly recently, African approaches to conservation

education were based on Western concepts of heritage. Accordingto Dawson Munjeri, former vice president of, the concept

in Europe and America was created based on the cult of the

physical object and its aesthetic. That is, the materials, style, and

monumental character are the foundation on which heritage has

been understood, and they form the basis for conservation actions.

In Africa, this understanding of the heritage is insufficient.

Indeed, the notion of cultural heritage, as perceived in Africa,

celebrates the unbreakable link between man, nature, and God.

African concepts of heritage have always embraced spiritual,

social, and religious meanings, myths, and strong relationships withancestors and the environment.

By ignoring these important aspects of heritage and focusing

only on technical solutions to problems, African professionals and

their European counterparts have had difficulties in ensuring the

conservation of sites. In some cases, important protective rituals,

taboos, or restrictions have been lost. In others, traditional conser-

vation and maintenance practices have been abandoned as global-

ization and modernization have accelerated. Even identification of

sites has been problematic at times, as the monumental or built

A view of one of the last Mousgoum houses that stillexists in Pouss in Cameroon, an example of indige-nous architectural heritage in sub-Saharan Africathat is disappearing. Photo:Courtesy of Africa 2009.


18/32

18 Conservation, The GCI Newsletter lVolume 18 , Number 3 2003 lNews in Conservation

the perception of African cultural heritage. In February , an

international meeting of experts recommended the identification,

study, protection, and publicizing of the archaeological, architec-

tural, technical, and spiritual components of African cultural

heritage. In October of the same year, African experts representing

countries met in Zimbabwe and called for a concept of cultural

heritage that transcends the monumental vision and aesthetic

notion of artistic masterpiece. They emphasized the need for amuch broader anthropological approach, which takes into account

the complex societal and symbolic values of sites, without limiting

the analysis to form and building material. The fundamental role of

the spiritual and the sacred as part of cultural heritage, along with

its physical aspect, was recognized as characteristic of Africa. Since

that meeting, there have been four additional meetings to discuss

such topics as cultural landscapes and the notions of authenticity

and integrity as they relate to Africa.

The second process launched by the World Heritage

Committee and developed by (the International Centrefor the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural

Property) was the Global Training Strategy aimed at increasing the

capacity of countries to deal with all aspects of the World Heritage

Convention. The approach requested by the Committee was to look

both at global needs and the specific needs of the various geograph-

ical regions. A meeting of experts held at in invited

professionals from around the world to analyze training needs and

strategic approaches to education and training.

At that meeting, a paper was presented on a strategic

approach to training in sub-Saharan Africa. The paperprepared

by erre- (the International Centre for Earth Construction

School of Architecture of Grenoble), in partnership with the

World Heritage Centre and was based on a survey

distributed to countries. The results of the survey led to the

identification of a number of issues to be considered in developing

a training strategy for Africa: the insufficient human resources and capacity to carry

out management, conservation, and maintenance using

traditional methods and materials;

the difficulty for African countries to integrate conservation

policies into a framework for sustainable development;

the ineffectiveness of legislation aimed at protecting

immovable cultural heritage;

the noninvolvement of local communities in conservation

planning and management;

the lack of awareness of politicians, decision makers, andlocal communities of the role that conservation can play

within rapidly changing economic, social, and environmental

situations;

the lack of national inventories of immovable cultural

heritage; and

the difficulty for African professionals to share information,

specialized knowledge, and best practices in the region.

A Regional Training Program

After its presentation to the experts meeting in , the training

strategy for sub-Saharan Africa was adopted at the th session

of the World Heritage Committee. In June the three organi-

zations involved in the survey signed an agreement to develop a

program based on the proposed strategy. In , after a period

of consultation and program development, the World

Heritage Centre, , erre-, and African cultural

heritage organizations launched the Africa program. Its long-

term aim is to increase national capacities in sub-Saharan Africa for

management and conservation of immovable cultural heritage.Financial partners include the Swedish International

Development Cooperation Agency and the Swedish National Her-

itage Board, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation,

the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Italy and Finland, the World

Heritage Fund, the Division of Culture, and .

Participants in Africa 2009s 4th Regional Course on the Conservation andManagement of Immovable Cultural Heritage, held in Benin in fall 2002.The aim of the coursewhich brought together about 20 professionals from16 African countrieswas to create greater awareness of important issuesin conservation planning and management. Photo:Courtesy of Africa 2009.


19/32


The programmanaged by a steering committee of African

directors of cultural heritage and representatives of the three inter-

national organizationsis guided by several principles. These

principles include involving local communities in planning for and

protecting heritage resources within their territory and ensuring

that tangible benefits can be derived by these communities; giving

priority to local knowledge systems, human resources, skills, and

materials; ensuring that activities contribute to capacity building

within national institutions; giving priority to simple, incremental

solutions to problems that can easily be implemented within an

existing framework; creating awareness and respect for inter-

national conservation norms and standards; and focusing on

prevention and maintenance as a cost-effective and sustainable

strategy for management and conservation.

It terms of structure, activities are carried out at the regional

level (Projet Cadre) and the site level (Projets Situs). The Projet

Cadre comprises regional activities that include training courses,

workshops, seminars, research projects, and networking. The

Projets Situs aim at improving conservation at individual sites in

the region. The strength of the program is derived from the link

between the two levels. Information from the Projets Situs is fed

back into the Projet Cadre to help improve training methodologies

and techniques at the regional level and to ensure that the program

is rooted in the realities of the field. In turn, developments on the

regional level are used to strengthen the Projets Situs. The rela-

tionship between both levels highlights another important principle

for Africa : the promotion of hands-on practical experiences as

an effective means of training. This hands-on approach to training

is not only used during the Projets Situs but is also an integral part

of regional courses and other activities.

The Projet Cadre has carried out five regional management

courses, training over participants. Twenty of these partici-

pants have been invited back to act as course assistants or resource

persons. The year marked the introduction of an annual

regional technical course, the first of which took place in

Cameroon on the topic of documentation and inventory. A numberof other activities have been carried out under the Projet Cadre,

and a series of African sites have been the focus ofProjets Situs

work (see sidebar).

The Larger Context

It is important to recognize that the Africa program exists

within a larger training context in sub-Saharan Africa. In an effort

to avoid duplication and take advantage of shared goals and inter-

ests, the program has tried, where possible, to create partnerships.Two important partners are the Ecole du Patrimoine Africain

(), located in Porto-Novo, Benin, and the Program for Museum

Development in Africa (), located in Mombasa, Kenya. is

a university institution with a regional focus specialized in training

and research for the conservation and promotion of movable and

immovable cultural heritage. is a nongovernmental organiza-

tion dedicated to the preservation, management, and promotion of

cultural heritage in Africa through a program of training and devel-

opment of support services. Both institutions were created as a final

output of Prema, a multiyear program of aimed at buildingcapacity for museum professionals in the region. works

primarily with Francophone and Lusophone countries, while

works with Anglophone countries. While these institutions work

primarily on training related to conservation in museums, both are

also interested in immovable cultural heritage. In initial phases,

they provided a stable base from which to implement the annual

regional courses of Africa . In , however, a broader agree-

ment was signed so that collaborative projects could increase.

Universities also play an important training role within the

region. Africa has established a relationship with theUniversity of Zimbabwe, which recently initiated a masters

program in heritage management. The partnership includes fund-

ing scholarships for individuals to study for a masters degree in

heritage management at the university. Partnerships are also being

sought with other universities in the region. In addition, relation-

ships have been established with the International Council of

African Museums and the West African Museums Program; both

play an important networking role for museum professionals within

sub-Saharan Africa.

A meeting of stakeholders near Porto-Novo in Benin, part of aninventory and documentation exercise for the Sacred Fores t ofBamezoum, conducted during Africa 2009s 4th Regional Course.Photo:Courtesy of Africa 2009.


20/32

Africa 2009

A project of the UNESCO World Heritage

Centre, ICCROM, CRATerre-EAG, and

a number of African cultural heritage

organizations

Activities of the Projet Cadre (regional

level) of Africa have included:

annual directors seminars;

thematic seminars on legal frameworks,

documentation, and inventory, and

creating awareness of the importance

of heritage;

research projects on traditional conserva-

tion, dry stone construction, inventory

of rock art, and guidance for improve-

ment of legal frameworks;

donation of computers and other equip-ment to national heritage organizations;

two scholarships for African professionals

to work toward masters degrees at the

University of Zimbabwe, and five scholar-

ships for African professionals to attend

courses at ;

a bilingual (English and French) Web

page, an Internet mailing list, a newsletter,

and a database of professionals who have

taken part in activities.

Since , the following sites have

benefited from work through the Projets

Situs (site projects) of the Africa

program:

Asante Traditional Buildings, Ghana

Khami Archaeological Site, Zimbabwe

Kasubi Tombs, Uganda

James Island, Gambia

Kondoa Irangi Rock Paintings Site,

Tanzania

Niamey, Zinder, and Agadez, Niger

Tombeau des Askias, Mali

Stone Built Structures in the Mandara

Mountains, Cameroon

Cathedrale de Sainte Marie, Libreville,

Gabon

Leven House and Steps, Kenya

Koutammakou Cultural Landscape, Togo

The implementation and coordination of Africa is

a large undertaking, but its size gives it some unique benefits.

By carrying out many different activities each year, the program is

able to approach certain topics from different angles. For example,

the topic of documentation and inventory is covered annually as

part of the regional management courses, and it has also been the

subject of a regional thematic seminar, three research projects/

workshops, and a short technical course. Each time the topic istreated, concepts are developed and improvements are made.

Another benefit of the size of the program and number of its activi-

ties is that it allows continued contact with regional professionals in

a variety of contexts. This ensures that there is a sustained

exchange of ideas, giving these professionals support in their

continuing effort to improve the conditions for conservation in

their home institutions. This constant contact functions, in effect,

as a long-term capacity-building support.

The program is currently set to run through the end of.

Discussions are ongoing with partner institutions in the regionto determine the shape of capacity-building activities aimed at

conservation of immovable cultural heritage after that date. In the

meantime, the program will continue to work with national heritage

organizations in the region to improve capacity for the conservation

of this important part of the worlds heritage.

Lazare Eloundou Assomo is a program specialist with the Africa Unit of the

UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Joseph King is a senior project manager

with the Heritage Settlements Unit of ICCROM.


An on-site physical survey exercise for participants in Africa 2009s4th Regional Course, demonstrating the process of evaluating thestate of conservation at a given site. Photo:Courtesy of Africa 2009.


21/32

A Partnershipin EducationThe UCLA/Getty

Masters ProgramBy David Scott and Kathleen Dardes


The reassembly of a Greek kylixvase. The forthcoming UCLA/Getty Program in Archaeologicaland Ethnographic Conservationwill provide practical conserva-tion training in both archaeologi-cal and ethnographic materials,as well as an appreciation of theoften complex issues relating tosignificance, access, and use ofthese materials. Photo:Courtesy

of the Antiquities ConservationDepartment of the J. Paul GettyMuseum.

TT archaeological and ethnographic material

is an important part of our efforts to preserve the cultural remains

of the past and to ensure that future generations can know and

learn about the past directly from those artifacts that have survived.

In conserving archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, conserva-

tors deal not only with the materiality of the object but with the

array of values and meanings that are attached to it. Present and

past useas functional objects, historical documents, spiritual and

cultural symbolsadds fascinating layers to artifacts, which

require conservators of these materials to take an approach that

respects both tangible and intangible attributes.

In , the Washington, D.C.based National Institute for

Conservation (now known as Heritage Preservation) identified the

development of educational opportunities for conservators of

archaeological and ethnographic materials as a priority. Since then,

a number of efforts have helped address this need, including the

inclusion of archaeological and ethnographic conservation into the

framework of existing academic conservation programs in the

United States. These programs, along with those offered in other

countries, have produced many of the current leaders in ethno-

graphic and archaeological conservation. However, there remains

a need for more conservators equipped to address the particular

requirements of ethnographic and archaeological materials.

During the s, the Getty Conservation Institute began a

search for an appropriate university with which to develop a gradu-

ate-level program in archaeological and ethnographic conservation

that could complement existing programs and expand educational

opportunities. After a series of meetings and exploratory discus-

sions with several institutions of higher education, the University


22/32


of California, Los Angeles (), was identified as the most

suitable partner for the to develop this needed component of

conservation education. In , Getty Trust President and

Barry Munitz and Chancellor Albert Carnesale formally

announced their intention to work together in creating a new aca-demic program in conservation. It was agreed that the program

would be administratively housed within the Cotsen Institute of

Archaeology, an organized research unit at .

Program Objectives

The aim of the /Getty Program in Archaeological and

Ethnographic Conservation will be to provide students with a solid

educational base and practical training in both archaeological and

ethnographic materials, as well as an appreciation of the often com-

plex tangle of issues relating to significance, access, and use of these

materials, whichin many casessets them apart from fine art or

historical materials. In the case of ethnographic materials especially,

the program will facilitate an understanding of the multiple values

and meanings these materials may still have for indigenous popula-

tions, and it will foster a sense of partnership with stakeholder

communities in relevant aspects of conservation decision making.

The positioning of the program at a major research

university with outstanding faculties in the social and physical

scienceswill help students develop a sense of kinship with

colleagues in archaeology, anthropology, and the sciences. For the

conservators who emerge from the program, this sense of kinship

will lead to an interdisciplinarity that will be an important attribute

of their working lives.

The new program will equip students with a range of skillsand knowledge that will help them respond flexibly and proactively

to changing needs and conditions in the field of ethnographic and

archaeological conservation. It will stress the importance of

interdisciplinary collaboration and decision making and prepare

students to operate in a number of potential contextsin the

field or the lab, in the private or the public sector, under contract

or in conventional employment. Topics to be covered in the

program include:

the technology and deterioration of materials,

the nature and history of conservation,

preventive conservation and environmental management,

conservation in situ and aspects offield and site conservation

management,

the conservation treatment of ethnographic and archaeo-

logical materials,

museum practice,

scientific methods in conservation, and

ethics and issues in conservation.

Getty intern Martha SimpsonGrant inspecting traditionalAfrican sculpture from theDr. and Mrs. Melvin SilvermanCollection at the CaliforniaAfrican American Museum.

In the case of ethnographicmaterials, the UCLA/Gettyprogram will facilitate an under-standing of the multiple valuesand meanings these materialscontinue to h

VVAA. Conservation Education. GCI. 2003

Documents

Transcript of VVAA. Conservation Education. GCI. 2003